Now that Mrs Fudge has had a definitive diagnoses as to her back trauma following two failed spinal surgeries I am optimistic about getting out mtbing again ad looked at the Whyte T130 RS. Any lovers or haters both sides of the fence thoughts appreciated

Have owned a T130C RS for getting on 2 years now and I love it. Best all round bike I’ve ever ridden. Not the fastest, or the lightest, or the flashiest but it has been solidly reliable, rides incredibly well and is fine being taken down or hauled up anything I’ve thrown at it. Some good deals about at the minute too, I saw a 2018 T130C R on sale earlier today for £2599, which for a bike with the same carbon frame as mine and a GX Eagle groupset is insane value for money given it’s from a shop!!!

The alloy RS has in my opinion the weakest spec of the range, the Fox dampers don’t seem to gel as well with the frame as Rockshox models and I wouldn’t touch a Shimano 11-speed drivetrain if you paid me after so long on Eagle. I’d dismiss it and go straight for the C R, it’s a better spec, much nicer colour and will be a great platform to upgrade on, as the stock wheels are a bit weighty, but aside from that it looks bob on!

That’s probably why the alloy version is heavily reduced, I’ve been looking at some other brands and some are non boost but with great spec, so it’s a toss up between great spec non boost or lesser spec boost

I have a 2016 version with pikes.

It is exceptional.

MrsbeanZ has 2016 spec one , pikes and monarch .she Absolutely luvs it – had an Orange five for years before the whyte . Her conference and riding improved massively with the t130 , faster and down trails .

Talk to Mboy if your looking for one .

A bike that simply if much better than its spec on paper  .. brilliant bike

I bought the 2017 RS in August last year – 11 speed XT and Fox.

As mentioned, it’s no flyweight but it’s very capable. It’s a good climber and a very good descender – belies its ‘only’ 130mm of travel.

The Fox 34 forks lack small bump sensitivity – just changed to Pikes and big improvement. I find the Fox Float EVOL shock pretty good though not tried Rockshox so not sure how they compare.

Best bike I’ve had – big days in the Peaks and Lakes, trail centres, local bimbles and BPW all handled with aplomb – no regrets about buying it.

Hi Lawman91, would you mind letting me know where you saw that deal?

Saw it on Leisure Lakes, but it’s actually £2799, could’ve sworn it was £2599 when I looked earlier though!! Still a cracking deal at that price!

https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/304701/products/whyte-t130-c-r-275-mountain-bike-2018-matt-petrolreeforange.aspx?currency=GBP&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1MzKgbWk3AIVzrDtCh07PAITEAQYBiABEgIFvvD_BwE

Great – thanks!

I recently bought a T130 S after test riding an RS. I prefer the suspension on the S, and the 12 speed drive train is also much better. My local shop reduced the price to £2250, in line with the web, and that’s what clinched it for me.

I like the colour better too.

It descends really well, but it was the climbing I was surprised at. As others have said, they’re not light but you really don’t notice it going up. Climbs so much better than my 26er, despite being a good kilo and a half heavier.

Talk to Mboy if your looking for one .

Cheers mate, much appreciated…

Anyway… Great bike, awesome fun machine, the kind of bike you can jump on and immediately gel with. It’s a Jack of all trades, master of none kind of ride, which either appeals or it doesn’t, but where other bikes may master one discipline, the T-130 is 95% as good as all of its rivals in every discipline!

Same applies for every T-130 model by the way… Choose what spec suits your personal preferences and your budget. The RS appeases the Fox/Shimano brigade these days, but all the alloy models have the same basic frame. Just got my best mate a T-130 SX, the bottom of the range model, and can safely say that the “budget” Fox fork with the GRIP damper and SLX drivetrain don’t make it feel like a budget option at all! It still rides with all the flair and panache of the more expensive models.

Currently looking at purchasing the bottom of the range SR for a friend.  Compares well spec wise to a bird aeris 120 which was another option.

A 5’6 female I’m assuming should be on a size small?  Just need to find one to sit on for size.

She’s bang between the Small and Medium sizes, I’d get her to try both really if possible. From experience I went large when on the borderline between large and XL, rode both and the XL just felt too long in the wheelbase for me and the large felt more lively and fun yet was still plenty big enough to be comfortable. I imagine it would be the same for rider on the borderline on Small/Medium sizes, smaller will feel more agile and lively, bigger will feel more stable at speed so it depends on what she’s looking for and prefers the feel of.

Wheelbase are advertising the 2018 rs for just £2,150.

“Wheelbase are advertising the 2018 rs for just £2,150.”

That’s the FIT4 fork so very good value.

Rascal – what Pikes did you go for? Just had a set of 2018 RCT3 delivered after the “make my 34s feel more like Pikes” thread.

Yes saw the wheelies deal but some people already changing out the fork to a pike so that would be another added expense, checked out Paul’s cycles for 2017 deals and the cube 140  HPA race looks well specced, 150 Pikes, Reverb and DT Swiss SP hubs.

I’ve got one of the 1st generation t-130s’s – it’s a fantastic bike, I’ve done everything on it from uplift days to 24hour racing, it’s not missed a beat.

“Yes saw the wheelies deal but some people already changing out the fork to a pike”

Really? On the 2018 model?

It’s not so much the fork, but the rest of the spec of the RS just isn’t as “good”. On paper you’d say it’s possibly a little better, but the fact is the Fox shock doesn’t gel as well with the back end as the Monarch does. In fact I have jeard reports the basic Monarch RL performs better than the RT3 when used on the T130. The XT/Raceface drivetrain is good on paper, but out in the real world GX Eagle runs rings around, the shifting quality is just better, it feels better put together (a rarity for SRAM only a few years ago, I thought even their most expensive 11-speed stuff felt like crap) and the overall range and steps between gears are far superior. The less said about the latest XT brakes and their bite point issues the better as well, though to be fair, good as SRAM Guide brakes are, sticky pistons and levers are not uncommon, so realistically I’d budget for a better set of brakes down the line. I got 18 months out of my Guide RS’ before they were toast, but even then they were repaired under warranty, but running Hope Race E4’s now and not looking back. Basically, seek out an alloy S or stretch to a C R is my advice!

I recently bought a T130 S after test riding an RS. I prefer the suspension on the S, and the 12 speed drive train is also much better. My local shop reduced the price to £2250, in line with the web, and that’s what clinched it for me.

I like the colour better too.

I’m riding a T-130 2015 (no S) … but difficult to see what the S actually added

It descends really well, but it was the climbing I was surprised at. As others have said, they’re not light but you really don’t notice it going up. Climbs so much better than my 26er, despite being a good kilo and a half heavier.

Lifting the bike into the stand its weight is apparent but I have to agree .. it’s not really noticed when climbing.

Descending … I swapped the Monarch ML to a ML3… with my 72ish kg that works much better on small bumps and with 1 band its actually fine on bigger stuff as well.. bigger stuff being anything at FoD.  No lockout on the ML3 Monarch but it still climbs …

The original for was the Revolution and I switched that to a Pike and stuck in a 10mm extra airshaft so its 140mm… still climbs great .. RCT3’s feel plush after revolution (though I’m used to them now)

Other than that almost everything else is changed,

The cranks were unusable … I didn’t even try and ride with the 175mm fitted on a medium.. so as I had some XT cranks just swapped BB and used them.

Previous owner didn’t want the SRAM mech which he said broke twice and replaced with Shimano…

I like to keep a single set of pads and bleed kits (5 bikes) etc. so switched the brakes… so now XT/SLX fitted to ISPEC

Shorter stem, more inline with current models… (Thx Patriot)

As its used 50/50 on Bike Park uplifts and trail riding I’ve now go chain devices fitted.  I should probably change the chain and NW chainring and perhaps I wouldn’t lose the chain on bike park days.

I’ve got a T-129, it is an older double chain ring one and the only issue I have with the bike is the rear end flex, apart from that it’s amazing.

As it’s aging now I’ve been looking at these T130s in the sales and getting very, very tempted. Well I was until the pictures of the S120 came out, suspect that will be my next bike now but it’s still very tempting to get a 130 with the current prices.

Never heard a bad word said about the T130s from the people I ride with, nor the 129s, most of which are single chain rings and don’t flex anywhere near as much as mine.

Is it me or is this the first year Whyte full sussers have had to go on firesale and for such a prolonged period? I have been offered 20+% off by my lbs for at least 6 weeks now.

And to answer the original question, the T130 is by far the best of the UK centric trail bikes albeit not the lightest. At the wheelbase price for the RS it’s a no brainer providing you want Shimano over Eagle.

Patriot – same ones as you. Much nicer fork.

Rascal – Nice, slightly dissapointed at getting the Maxle Ultimate as opposed the Stealth version but they are a bargain!

Can’t wait to give them a hammering

Is it me or is this the first year Whyte full sussers have had to go on firesale and for such a prolonged period? I have been offered 20+% off by my lbs for at least 6 weeks now.

And to answer the original question, the T130 is by far the best of the UK centric trail bikes albeit not the lightest. At the wheelbase price for the RS it’s a no brainer.

Maybe a partly a victim of their own success… My T-130 took me from rough XC into riding bike parks… I’m not seeing the longer travel Whytes reduced much… which is perhaps where the T-130 took me ?  Though I don’t want to give up my T-130 … but I would swap my XC HT shed space for a longer travel bike largely because the T-130 has been so capable …

Equally their perhaps their inflexibility is  another factor….they don’t sell one I can actually ride .. which puts me off a better spec one new and they don’t sell frames.  I don’t mind swapping stuff out as it needs replacing but stuff you need to swap before you can actually ride it at all puts me off buying new. (Especially stuff like XX1 Eagle Gold Carbon cranks on the Works – not what you want to be trying to sell on eBay to buy some appropriately sized ones after spending £5,500 on the bike)

@gasgasser, it was Rutland who had it for £2599, knew I’d seen it somewhere!

https://www.rutlandcycling.com/bikes/mountain-bikes/whyte-t-130c-r-2018-carbon-full-suspension-mountain-bike_456627?utm_source=criteo&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=lowerfunnel

Thanks Lawman, I’m arranging a T130 demo very soon and assuming I like it , will do the right thing and ask if the LBS can get hold of this Carbon model as its around the same price as the alloy S was at full price

Just had a chat with local Whyte stockist who deny all knowledge of the T130 C R as a 2018 model (I told them it had been on the Whyte site for a couple of months at least and that Rutland had it reduced).

They claim its a 2019 model and is priced at £3250. They then contradicted themselves when I asked about the other 2019 T130 models, saying details were embargoed until 1 August.

Anyway, I phoned Rutland who confirm it is available at £2600 as long as you can get to one of their shops and collect.

I’m doing nothing until Ive test ridden in a weeks time so these C R’s might all be sold by then.

Very capable bike that can turn it’s hand to anything. I loved mine but I like to mix it up and bougjt a Bird.

I had a large T130RS frame and think an XL would’ve been perfect.